Customer Jacek Mroczkowski, right, tosses a Sakrete concrete mix bag into his truck at a Home Depot Inc. store in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, Nov. 12, 2012. Home Depot Inc. is scheduled to release ... more

Photo: Andrew Harrer, Bloomberg

U.S. oil production rising

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energy

U.S. set to be top oil producer

U.S. oil output is poised to surpass Saudi Arabia's in the next decade, making the world's biggest fuel consumer almost self-reliant and putting it on track to become a net exporter, the International Energy Agency said Monday.

Growing supplies of crude extracted through new technology including hydraulic fracturing of underground rock formations will transform the United States into the largest producer for about five years starting about 2020, the agency, adviser to 28 nations, said in its annual World Energy Outlook. The United States met 83 percent of its energy needs in the first six months of this year, according to the Energy Department.

The United States, whose crude imports have fallen 11 percent this year, is on track to produce the most oil since 1991, according to Energy Department data.

retail

Best Buy picks a new CFO

Best Buy, the world's largest consumer-electronics retailer, hired former Williams-Sonoma Inc. Chief Financial Officer Sharon McCollam as CFO as it seeks to reduce its store count and strengthen its online operations.

McCollam, 50, starts Dec. 10 and also will serve as chief administrative officer, Best Buy said Monday. She retired from Williams-Sonoma in March. Jim Muehlbauer, Best Buy's current finance chief, said last month that he would step down.

Chief Executive Officer Hubert Joly is hiring McCollam as he works to boost sales while reducing store space amid intensifying online competition. Joly, who took charge in September as the company resisted buyout overtures from founder Richard Schulze, is to meet with analysts Tuesday to discuss his strategy to revive the retailer.

manufacturing

Hostess Brands warns strikers

Hostess Brands, the maker of Wonder bread and Twinkies, said it will begin permanently closing plants unless enough members of its striking bakery workers' union cross the picket lines to keep them open.

The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union went on strike Friday at some plants over what the union called the "unilateral imposition of a horrendous contract" rejected by 92 percent of its members. By late Sunday, the strike affected 23 of Hostess' 36 plants, the company said.

Enough union members are crossing picket lines at about half of the struck plants to allow "full operations," the company said. Hostess is asking bakery workers to "reconsider and return to work immediately."

bankruptcy

Kodak cuts deal with creditors

Eastman Kodak, the bankrupt photography pioneer, arranged $793 million in financing from some creditors to exit bankruptcy as a commercial-printing company, said a person familiar with the negotiations.

Funding is conditional on selling its patent portfolio for at least $500 million, progress in the sale of two business units and the resolution of some obligations, the person said. Kodak has announced almost 4,000 job cuts this year as it restructures. Chris Veronda, a Kodak spokesman, didn't immediately respond to a call for comment on an agreement.

acquisitions

Ziff Davis, the 85-year-old publishing company that chronicled the rise of the computing industry, will be sold to Internet-services company J2 Global Inc. for $167 million.

The cash deal gives J2 Global PCMag.com and other online sites, including Toolbox.com and Geek.com that reach more than 50 million people, the company said.

Ziff Davis, which used to own broadcast television stations and more recently was known for its technology-focused titles, has expanded online as print publishers face declines in advertising sales. Ziff Davis is closely held.

Mexico paint giant sold

Sherwin-Williams Co., the largest U.S. paint retailer, has agreed to acquire closely held Consorcio Comex SA de CV for about $2.34 billion, including debt, giving it Mexico's largest paint maker as housing demand improves. Company shares rose the most in more than a year Monday.

Sherwin-Williams will fund the all-cash deal by selling $2 billion in 5-, 10- and 30-year bonds, the company said Monday. The acquisition would be the biggest takeover in Mexico by a U.S. company since 2004, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

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